Anganwari workers stage sit-in, block Tawi bridge

STATE TIMES NEWSJAMMU: Anganwari workers and helpers on Tuesday took to streets and staged a sit-in here in support of their demands, including release of pending salaries and hike in honorarium.
The sit-in protest by over 500 women under the banner of Anganwari workers and helpers Association near the Tawi Bridge at Bikram Chowk was peaceful, though they raised slogans against government for its alleged failure to address their issue.
Due to the protest, the movement of traffic on the Tawi Bridge remained disrupted for more than one hour.
“We are protesting for the last three months but the government continues to ignore us. We are just demanding our fundamental rights of better wages and working conditions. We had expected that being a woman, the Chief Minister would resolve our issues but nothing has been done,” President of the Association Suman Suri said.
“A majority of the ICDS workers are women who are contributing greatly in implementing the child protection-related programmes but we have been ignored continuously,” she added.
“We are on strike since over 100 days but it is unfortunate that nobody from the government visited us to take note of our genuine demands,” President of the Association Suman Suri said.
She said besides the demand for hike in honorarium and release of pending salaries, the association is seeking seniority list, implementation of the pension scheme and gratuity of Rs 2 lakh for workers and Rs 1 lakh for helpers on retirement.
We are getting a meager amount of Rs 3,600 and Rs 1,800 for workers and helpers respectively, while as our counterparts in other states, including Delhi are getting Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000 for the same work,” Suri said.